Pressing machine



Dec. 3, 1963 H. J. BEHNCKE PRESSING MACHINE Filed Feb. 21, 1962 United States This invention relates to provements in pressing me.- chines as used in the press of fabric articles, for example, wearing apparel. particular, it reference to a press wherein the articles are pressed while moistened, as by live steam passed throu h the buck or bed upon which the article rests, or by hand sponging.

In those machines which include a lower buck to receive the article a movable, heated, upp bucl: adapted to be moved into pressure contact with the Work it has been known to draw off the water and/ or vapor by vacuum applied through the lower buck, this latter having a perforate upper surface for that purpose. However, those known to me are inefilcient in that the suction is not applied over a sur'hciently extended area of the buck or with adequate intensity whereby carrying oil of the vapor been inordinately slow or nt. Accordingly, an acceptably pressed article cannot be ssured.

The within invention has for its principal object an improved construction for the buck, Qrdi uily the lower buck, through which vacuum is applied, whereby the entire surface of the bucl: receives a substantially uniformly distribute sucion operating at a greatly improved rate of flow.

Another object resides in accomplishing the foregoing objective by bathe means of novel construction CH1 able of being cast or forged inte rally with the base or the buck.

Still another obiect is to provide baffle mes s as aforesaid having apertures to avoid trapping of condensate.

A further object is to provide improved circulation of air and vapor from the garment or other article to the inlet or" the source of vacuum.

Another object lies in and a method of inroducing ambient air into the buck throu unrestri t openings whereby circulation through the buck is co, siderably enhanced and drying of the article accelerated accordingly.

Other objects and advantages of th inver' come apparent from the ensuing description which, with the accompanying drawing, discloses a preferred mode or" carrying the invention into practice.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pressing which the principles of the invention are a ,t-

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the l wer k upper plate or cover thereof, in large part, broken away;

FIG. 3 is a cross section taken along the line of FIG. 2, but with the grid plate removed;

FIG. 4 is a cross section on the line 4-4- of 2; and

FIG. 5 is a somewhat enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 4 for a better showing of details.

Where, in the description and claims, reverence is made to a buck or lower buck the same is intended to comprebend the bed or table upon which the r article to be pressed rests during pressing irrespective of the means by which pressure is applied to the article. it is also contemplated that vacuum be ied from above the article as well as from below. although the latter is the accepted convention. In the exemplificative deposited on the machine, the article to be pressed is lower buck and the upper, heated buck broug t down thereupon. Any heating medium may be utiliwd viz., electricity, steam or gas although the rrst two are those Patent @fi lice 2 most frequently employed. Moreover, while the vork ii -g faces of the bucks are shown complementarily convex and concave, these be fiat. by w h the upper buck is pivo ed the mechanism for rat g and lowering he uper buck form no art the invention per se. in fact, the upper buck y be stationary and the lower buck raised thereagainst.

Broadly regarded, the invention comprises a hollow buck subdivided interiorly by ribs into a plurality of intercomznunicating chambers, all of these chambers being in communication with the entire Working area of the buck through a grid plate used with or without an overlying yieldable pressing pad. Distributed at strategic pos otherwise than on the Working surface are one or Ir re ports through the suction is up bed. The arran out and size of thee ports is such that the incon arr, sometimes re er ed to herein as bleed air, is caused to tvel thro g e several chambers to the openng to w lch the source of suction is connected, whereby to increase the velocity of the vapor and/or water toward the exhaust fan or other vacuum-applying instrumentality. Stated otherwise, the chambers act as ducts having a somewh t restricted cross section whereby the velocity or" the mo g mass of interled vapor and air is greatly increased. intercomcation between the several chambers is preferably so arranged as to act as interior support for the grid plate, provided the same is not self-sustaining. To avoid accumulation of water on the floor of the chambers weep holes are provided in the ribs.

Turning now to the drawings, there is shown (FIG. 1) a pressing machine having a base it), an upper, pivoted, electrically-heated buck ll and a fixed lower buck 12 carried on a hollow pedestal 13 upstanding from the base. Thus, the pedestal may also serve as a conduit through which vapor and/or water is exhausted from the interior of the buck. For proper mechanical balance and to distributed the force of suction symmetrically, the axis of the pedestal is desirably positioned on the longitudinal, vertical, mid-plane of the buck. The means for providing suction may be of any suitable type. By way of example there is shown a vaned rotor 21 (FIGS. 2 and 4) on the shaft of an electrical motor 22 winch latter, as will be understood, rotates continuously while the machine is in use. Communication with the interior of the buck 12 is through the opening or port 2ddefined by the upper end of the pedestal l3 and exhaust is via a side outlet 26 which leads, through a hose or other tube, to the exterior of the premises or to a suitable container for receiving water.

The buck 12 comprises a bottom wall 31, front and rear walls 3232, end walls lift-4:3, and a cover plate 35. in the example, the parts 3-1, 32 and 33 are cast integrally with the pedestal and base ll although any equivalent construction is within the purview of the invention. The cover plate 35, in the form of an arcuate, perforate sheet having the rigidity suitable to iLS function, is seated in a peripheral recess 37 along the Walls 32 and 33 (FIG. 5) and is secured by screws 41 to a central rib 42 to be detailed subsequently. The perforations 44 in the plate 35 have a well-known function, namely to permit water vapor and droplets, i. e. condensate, to be drawn from the article undergoing pressing. In correspondence with the nomenclature of this art, the cover plate 35 is sometimes referred to herein as the grid plate. In practice, a yieldable pad 47 or" fabric or other construction overlies the grid plate 35 in order to provide a cushion for the articles pressed thereon. Such pad has interstices of a character permitting passage of suction force and consequent removal of moisture.

ch ambient air may be drawn when The space defined between the walls 31, 32, 3-3 and the grid plate 35 is subdivided into a plurality of chambers 51 by means of ribs 52, the central one of which is interrupted in the region of the suction opening 24, and the next adjacent pair are arcuate at the same region. As will be apparent, the several chambers 51 are in communication with the openings 44 in the grip plate. Cornmunication between the outermost pairs of chambers and the opening is obtained by notching the outermost pairs of ribs 52 at desirable intervals, for example, as indicated at 55, these notches being in staggered relation, as is clear from FIG. 2, in order to avoid short circuiting of the force of suction. It will also be noted (FIG. 5) that the upper edge of the several ribs 52 is curved congruently with the grid plate to provide support therefore at the interruptions 57 between the notches 55. Although the central rib is shown as uninterrupted for improved support of the grid plate, this rib may also be interrupted in the same manner as the remaining ribs.

From the foregoing, it will have become evident that the force of suction at the opening is distributed substantially uniformly over the entire area of the grid plate with consequenting subjection of the entire article being pressed to the vacuum.

To avoid accumulation of condensate on the floor of the chambers weep holes r2. are provided at convenient intervals.

in accordance with the invention, withdrawal of moisture from the article being pressed and from the pad 47 is accelerated by admitting ambient air to the interior of the buck 12. To this end apertures 63 are provided through the buck, preferably the bottom Wall 31 thereof, and preferably adjacent the end walls 33-3-3 whereby atmospheric air is drawn into the buck and serves [to induce a current of comparatively high velocity between these apertures and the suction fan. As a result, the vapor and condensate are swept along, so to speak, and delivered to the opening at a considerably higher rate than would be the case in the absence of the apertures 63. In the foregoing connection, it will be comprehended that the interstices of the fabric cover 4-7 tend to throttle how of vapor and condensate withdrawn from the garment with consequent retardation in the rate of moisture extraction, and that this condition is largely overcome by the swiftly moving mass of bleed air. If desired, the openlugs 63 may be in the end walls 33 or side walls 32 as long as they are sutiiciently remote from the opening 24 to obtain the beneficial result above described.

From the foregoing it will have become evident that a the invention results in a high degree of performance since the moisture is extracted from the garments, etc. at a rate far greater than has been the case with other vacuum systems presently available.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention, it will be understood, of course, that I do not Wish to be limited thereto since many modifications may be made and I, therefore, contemplate by the appended claims to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. in a fabric press provided with suction means, a buck comprising an essentially hollow body having its interior space defined by a bottom wall, lateral walls and a perforate top wall to support the article operated upon, a port in said body adapted to be connected to said suction means to reduce the air pressure in said space below atmosphere whereby to extract moisture rorn the article, said bottom wall having a plurality of unrestricted openings in communication with ambient atmosphere whereby said reduction in air pressure induces flow of atmospheric air into said space and toward said suction means to increase the rate of extraction of moisture and its exhaust from said space.

2. In a fabric press provided with suction means a buck ising a hollow body having a perforate Wall pro to support the article operated upon, a po t adapted to be connected to said VLL said suction m body having 5 to extract moisture from the article, said d elsewhere than in said perforate 'icted opening to ambient atmosphere to a air nto body under suction for exhaust with moisture extracted from the article.

3. in a is ic press provided with suction means, a buck comprising an elongated, paralleiepipedic, essentially hollow body having its interior space defined by a bottom wall, front and rear walls, end Walls and a per forate top 51:. to support the article operated upon, a port in said body adapted to be connected to said suction cans to red =ce the air pressure in said space below atere ,reby to extract moisture from the article, a ty of longitudinal partitions extending between said end walls and top and bottom walls subdividing said space into a plurality of chambers extending from one end Wall to the other, the perforations in the top wall being distributed cocxtensively with said chambers to provide suction thro n all of said perforations, said partitions having st W apertures providing communication between s 3. chambers, and means providing fluid cornrnunication between said port and at least one of said intercorninunicating chambers.

4. The combination in accordance with claim 3 further characterized by the provision in said bottom wall of a plurality of unrestricted openings in communication with ambient atmosphere to admit atmospheric air into said chambers for joint how with said moisture.

5. ins fabric press provided with suction means, a buck comprising an essentially hollow body having a perforate top Wall to support the article being operated upon, oppos e bottom wall having a support for the body, fron wall, a rear wall and a pair of opposite end walls, said front and rear walls being substantially longer than said end walls, said walls together defining the space within body, a conduit extending from said body adapted to be connected to said suction means to draw off moisture from the article, said conduit lying in the longitudinal, medial, vertical plane of the body, a partition exten lng between said top Wall and bottom wall in plane and interr pted at said conduit, other partitions both sides of said first partition extending between said top wall and bottom wall and between said end walls, said first partition and other partitions together with the body-defining walls defining a plurality of chambers within body, said other partitions being interrupted in staggered fashion to provide fluid communication between the several chambers and said port.

6. in a fabri press provided with suction means, a buck comprising an elongated, substantially parallelepipcdic, ssentially hollow body having its interior space delined by a bottom Wall, lateral walls and a perforate top wall to support the article operated upon, a port in said body adapted to be connected to said suction means to reduce the air pressure in said space below atmosphere whereby to extract moisture from the article, a plurality of partitions between ones of the lateral walls and top and bottom Walls subdividing said space into a plurality of chambers, said partitions having staggered apertures providing tortuous paths of communication between said chambers, the perforationsin the top wall being distributed coextensively with said chambers to provide suction through all of said perforations, and passage means providing fluid communication between said port and at least one of said intercommunicating chambers.

Beede Mar. 24, 1931 Ledbetter Dec. 19, 1933 

1. IN A FABRIC PRESS PROVIDED WITH SUCTION MEANS, A BUCK COMPRISING AN ESSENTIALLY HOLLOW BODY HAVING ITS INTERIOR SPACED DEFINED BY A BOTTOM WALL, LATERAL WALLS AND A PERFORATE TOP WALL TO SUPPORT THE ARTICLE OPERATED UPON, A PORT IN SAID BODY ADAPTED TO BE CONNECTED TO SAID SUCTION MEANS TO REDUCE THE AIR PRESSURE IN SAID SPACE BELOW ATMOSPHERE WHEREBY TO EXTRACT MOISTURE FROM THE ARTICLE SAID BOTTOM WALL HAVING A PLURALITY OF UNRESTRICTED OPENINGS IN COMMUNICATION WITH AMBIENT ATMOSPHERE WHEREBY SAID REDUCTION IN AIR PRESSURE INDUCES FLOW OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR INTO SAID SPACE AND TOWARD SAID SUCTION MEANS TO INCREASE THE RATE OF EXTRACTION OF MOISTURE AND ITS EXHAUST FROM SAID SPACE. 